Fifth Wheel
by ArbitrarilyYours
Summary: Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev are about ready to go on a NEXT great adventure, but there's a new twist, with a new face! Aeryn Llorwind has no idea what is going to happen to her when she travels with these two! Throw in a little girl with a penchant for justice, a male chimera looking for manuscripts for his original body, and a priest along the way for the journeys!
In the hustle and bustle of a lovely cityscape, a young woman around the age of 21 was walking down the cobbled streets. This young woman was Aeryn, and she had Silver/Ash Gray hair with specks of light cyan highlighting it, and she was scowling, looking down at her map as she walked. Her outfit was a very conservative one; travelling pants that were blue adorned her long, slender legs. A violet short-sleeved shirt with a black vest adorned her chest and torso. Her travelling bag was more of a satchel. It looked like a satchel, but it wasn't. On her back she had an elegant Naginata polearm with a bluish-purple shaft. The blade shimmering with flows and ripples in the sunlight. It was held in place by a fully stocked quiver of silvery arrows.

She was looking so intently at the map that she didn't realize where she was going as she bumped into another woman. "Hey! Watch where you're going next time!" the young woman, a red head about the age of fifteen, said. Aeryn looked up, and apologized "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" A tall man with long blond hair was standing behind the poor girl she ran into. He spoke to the stranger so casually, chomping on an apple, he seemed to be her partner, "You need to be more careful, Lina." He said, doofily. "Who asked you, Gourry, you knucklehead!" The redhead replied angrily. She then looked over at Aeryn, and noticed the map in her hand. "And you, are you looking for something?"

Aeryn shook her head dismissively. "Obviously, I'm looking for something in this town! What does it look like I'm doing?" she said. "Hey! You're the one who ran into me! Who the heck do you think you are!?" the little fire redhead said. "I'll give you a hint." Aeryn said in a dead pan. "Silver..." She then gestured to the silver arrows in her quiver.

"You're the Silver Marksman?! No way! I thought she was an urban legend!" the redhead exclaimed. The blonde male asked in a naive tone, "Silver Marksman? Who's that?" and the redhead looked him dead in the eye, and bonked him upside the head. "They say she is the fastest shot in the region and uses silver arrows." the firey redhead was smirking.

The young woman looked at the blonde, then back to the redhead again. "Come on, I'm not that great. Half of those stories are an complete exagerration." she said to Lina. "Um... what about the other half?" the blonde man asked cluelessly while chomping on a red cherry apple. The woman instantly got out her bow and launched a silver arrow into the blonde's apple, pinning it to a tree behind him.

"They are completely true." She said with a grin. The blonde looked flabbergasted. "Hey, I was eating that!" He said. The redhead looked into the woman's eyes, and smirked for a moment. "Yup, that's her alright!" and the woman looked uninterested in the activities that were around her.

The woman tried to leave the party of two, but the little girl had none of it. "What brings you to this part of the world?" the redhead asked nicely as not to tick off the woman. "My past." the woman said, smiling forlornly. "What is your name? You didn't tell us." The blonde said, striking up a conversation. "Aeryn. Aeryn Llorwind." she said, grinning toothily. The redhead said in an authoritative tone "Lina Inverse! Sorceress Supreme!" the redhead, which name she just found out, was ' _Lina_ ' said. "And I'm Gourry Gabriev! The Swordsman!" the blonde said, jovially.

Aeryn looked at Gourry, and then back to Lina, and somewhat questioningly, said "Pleasure." Lina started to laugh very loudly. Aeryn smirked as Lina was still laughing. _This could be the start of something interesting_ , she thought to herself.

Gourry and Lina were sitting in a restaurant with Aeryn in tow, eating like they've been starving for weeks, despite having done the exact same thing mere hours ago. Lina struck up a conversation with Aeryn with her mouthful. Aeryn looked Lina dead in the eye, and said in a polite tone, "Could you please not _do_ that?" Lina smiled and shook her head before she took a big swallow. "Why not?" Gourry said, also with his mouth full. Aeryn looked towards Gourry with disgust. " _I'm surrounded by idiots!_ " Aeryn muttered to herself softly. Lina took a large drink from a nearby pitcher and wiped off her mouth, letting out a short sigh. "That better?" she asked, half jokingly. Aeryn just shook her head and smiled.

After they finished their meal, Lina was the first to speak up. "So, where are you from, exactly?" Aeryn laid her fork onto the tabletop neatly and quietly before replying. "I'm from a kingdom in the middle of the ocean, but it's really not important right now." Aeryn was explaining to Lina, which the redheaded girl looked fascinated at Aeryn. "It'd be great to live on an island! I'd get to work on my tan, that would look so cool!" Gourry, who was munching on a turkey leg, said to Aeryn. "Aeryn, where did you get your bow and arrow? They don't look like the regular bows and arrows." As Gourry was saying this, Lina looked up in intrigue. "My father made the bow and I just got the arrows on my journey here." Aeryn smiled at the memories of her travels, she quietly sipped her tea.

When it came time to pay for the meal, Lina reached into her cape, but a horrified look came across her face as she started scrambing through every secret pocket she had. "Gourry..." she said. "Please tell me you have the money." Gourry put his hand on his chin as if he was trying to remember something. After a lot longer than seemed necissary he said, flatly, "Can't say that I do!" Lina instantly grabbed him by the neck and pounded her knuckle into his head. "How could you have lost it you pea-brained numb skull!?" she screamed. "My skull wouldn't be so numb if you would quit hitting it!" They continued back and forth like this for a little while, before Aeryn just shook her head dissaprovingly and walked up to the Barkeeper, dropping a pouch of coins on his table. "This should cover it." She said. The two were shocked by this turn of generosity from a stranger.

As Aeryn was trying to leave the duo in the restaurant, she smirked to herself. She went off, but to her dismay, Lina and Gourry were trying to follow her while on the streets in the city. "Will you two quit?! I like travelling alone, and I intend to stay it like that!" Gourry looked at Aeryn, and smiled "Why not? Travelling in a group is fun! You get to go to different places!" As Gourry was saying that, Lina looked up at Aeryn, and smiled goofily.

Aeryn sighed dejectedly, and hung her head. "Fine! I'll travel with you idiots if you want me to!" She snappily said as Lina was smiling like a goofball. Lina led them to the inn she and Gourry were staying in.

Lina and Aeryn sat in the baths before getting ready for bed. Aeryn sighed. Lina had to look up at Aeryn to talk to her, because Aeryn was tall for a woman her age. "Yes?" Aeryn asked as she was looking towards Lina, waiting for an answer. "I was wondering, do you have any siblings?" as Aeryn was smiling when Lina asked that, "Yes, I have 7 of them, with me being the youngest." Aeryn said, flatly. "Wow!" she replied, not expecting to hear that kind of answer. "I wonder what would that be like! I only have the one older sister, but if I had 7 older siblings as ruthless as my sister, I wouldn't be alive to tell you about it!" Aeryn chuckled at the redhead. "It was hectic, I'll tell you that much. But it was more of chaos than anything. Everybody had their own incentives, but my second oldest sister and I got along the best." Aeryn said, reminiscing about her childhood.

Aeryn smiled at Lina, and she said to her "Just so you know, I don't dislike you. And I don't hate you, if that's what you wanted to know." Lina smiled as she washing her hair. "Would you believe it if I told you that you remind me of my sister back when she wasn't the bane of my existence?" Lina said smiling like a goof, while as she was washing her own hair. "I'm not sure what that means, but I will take the compliment." Aeryn was smiling a genuine smile this time.

Aeryn got out of the bath, putting a towel over her chest, and tied a towel over her head, and smiled at Lina. "I'll see you in the room." Lina nodded and smiled at Aeryn. Aeryn returned the smile and smirked at herself. ' _You're getting new friends. I wonder along the way what the adventure will entail._ ' her thoughts were in overdrive.

Aeryn got to the room where she, Gourry and Lina were staying. Gourry was already asleep, and Aeryn got out her pajama set, that was in her bag. She shed the towels, and got into the pajama set without any of the essentials for a female body. She looked at her journal, picked up the said journal, and started writing with the pen attached to the journal. The light scratching of the pen didn't wake Gourry up, but when she was done writing, Lina was in the doorway.

"You know, I've never written on my journeys, but I think it's good that you do." Lina was stating the obvious. "I know..." Aeryn said, lifting up a brown leather book with a black and gray spine. She put the journal up, in the bag where it belonged. She went to the bed, that she and Lina would be sharing. As Aeryn took out her hair, Lina smiled at how much hair she has. When that was done, Aeryn got into the covers on the bed, and said to Lina smiling a small smile. "Good night, Lina." and Lina replied, "Good night, Aeryn." And with that, they both fell soundly asleep.


End file.
